How long before my taste buds recover after H&N treatments?

I would ask you the same question after almost a year. How long it took from you to taste again. I finished mine a week ago after 33 sessions. But I had/have no tube as I've fought to keep my weight not to reduced more than 4kg. My second question, do you thing if i continue to force myself in eating would speed up the taste regaining?

For me it was a very slow process. It gradually improved after about 2 months after treatment. I am now one year out from treatment and it is much better but still not great.

@robholdenried,
My 7 weeks of radiation was aimed at an area just below my ear due to ear location of primary cancer. I still had ulceration and pain in my mouth, on my tongue especially. No feeding tube. It took several weeks beyond the end of radiation to notice a slight improvement in taste. The return was very slow and gradual. Even 11 years later, I am still overly sensitive to saltiness and I don't expect that to change. As others have said, your taste may never be exactly what it was. But I would say that it is very livable as it is today. Just be patient and enjoy it when a food starts to taste like it "should". Since your tongue was the radiation target, I might expect a slower response due to more radiation damage. Good luck to you and may your healing be quick and you remain cancer free.

Hi @robholdenried, I moved your question to this similar discussion that @calenbd, started
- How long before my taste buds recover after H&N treatments? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/taste-bud-recovery/

I did this so you can get tips from previous posts and connect with helpful members.

You might also be interested in these related discussions:
– When will food taste good again after chemo and radiation? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/trying-to-get-food-into-husband-after-chemo-and-radiation/
– Eating during cancer care https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/eating-during-cancer-care/

Do you know when the feeding tube will be removed?

Hi @robholdenried. My experience and from what others have commented is it can take from a few weeks to a few months to get your taste back. Even then it may not be what it once was. In some cases it is sparse and other cases your taste can become enhanced. I would give it at least two weeks before any taste at all returns, salty is usually the first one. Can you swallow at all with the feeding tube such as sweet soda (7-up)? If so it is good to exercise the swallowing and you can try out your taste buds on broth or milkshakes.

Any ideas on how to accelerate the return of your taste buds after completing radiation treatments? Just finished my 7 weeks for squamous cell with the primary in the base of my tongue that had spread to my lymph nodes. Had the surgical removal before I started chemo and radiation.
Eager to get off my feeding tube and return to normal eating.

My husband went through this last year. About 4 month after treatment ended, his taste was starting to come back. It was a little more than 6 months after treatment that he felt his taste was back. Some tings taste different than before treatment.

I remember when I was being irradiated in 1976. I was drinking a lot of Coca-Cola in the hospital and another patient told me that I would never want to drink Coke again. That prophecy was correct. Coke has lost that wonderful refreshing taste and it just doesn’t work well in a mouth that lacks saliva. It leaves behind a nasty film that gums up my teeth and tongue. (For some reason Dr Pepper doesn’t cause the same problem.) I was eventually able to drink orange juice again. Most other foods were back to tasting normal within a month after radiation treatments ended, I think.

You might not know that you “forget” how to chew and swallow food while you are on the feeding tube. You will have to relearn that. Speech-language pathologists can help with that. SLPs really know their stuff. You will probably bite your tongue a few times before your mouth learns how to chew correctly again. I guess that’s one reason to keep trying to eat even if food tastes like cardboard. Your mouth really does need practice and exercise.

Hi, my experience was and currently is that the taste of all foods, since radiation, has changed completely.
Some foods that I enjoyed before my radiation journey, I can not eat. (i.e. red meat). Other than the taste,
the texture of meat will not go down my throat. I have had to limit what I eat to fish, moist chicken, fruits and
vegetables. However, I have acquired a different taste than before radiation. It has been 5 1/2 years since I
finished my treatment and I have adjusted to my new eating routine.
I have accepted that this is the way things will be...but I am alive and that is all that matters.
God Bless and Take It One Day At A Time!

Your taste may take weeks if not months to get back to some sort of normal. I sure don't miss those days when most things tasted of metal or just plain yuck. But the first time I could actually taste chicken soup, my wife saw me with tears rolling down my cheeks. In my experience (which is about all we can relate), some taste has never been the same whilst others have changed for the better I believe. For example, tangy or spicy foods are no longer in my diet while desire for sweets has also diminished, which is probably a good thing.
All of this recovery will take weeks, months, and even years in some cases. You most likely will never be the same when it comes to taste, eating, and saliva, as well as perhaps swallowing. Every little new issue will give you pause to think the cancer has returned when in fact you could just have a cold sore or common cold. For me those thoughts went away after about fifteen years.
As I have told others, we cannot hold you; we cannot carry you. But we can listen to you, talk with you, and pray for you. It's a tough battle but a win-able battle. Time will heal so please keep the faith. Good luck.